MPC-1 (Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1: macrophage chemotactic factor) is a member of the C—C chemokine family and is known to be highly expressed in the arteriosclerotic (e.g. atherosclerotic) lesion (Takeya, M. et al., Hum. Pathol. 24: 534-539 (1993); Yla-Herttuala, S. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88: 5252-5257 (1991)).
On the other hand, primary pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a disease with poor prognosis, and heart-lung transplantation is the only therapy for this disease at present. However, heart-lung transplantation has considerable difficulty being used as a practical treatment due to the limited supply of donors.